Andries Ferreira

The Xerox Golden Lions team to face the Free State Cheetahs in their Currie Cup clash on Friday evening in Bloemfontein has been announced.

In an enforced change, Andries Ferreira comes in to the second row to replace the injured Lourens Erasmus, and will lock the scrum with the youngster JP du Preez who impressed in his starting debut against Western Province last week.

A rotational change sees Cyle Brink replacing Ruan Ackermann, who drops to the bench in the loose trio.

Among the reserves, Martin Muller comes in as cover at lock, and Pieter Scholtz moves up as the prop cover.

The Xerox Golden Lions will be looking to build on their impressive display last week against Western Province when they travel to the City of Roses to play the high flying Cheetahs who are unbeaten this season, and in so doing push on for a play-off position in defence of the trophy they won last season.

Emirates Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has named his team to face the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday evening.

Ackermann has opted to rotate several players for this local derby.

In the forwards, Ackermann has chosen to start Jacques van Rooyen and Ruan Dreyer in the front row. Andries Ferreira will partner with Martin Muller in the lock pairing, while Warwick Tecklenburg returns to the starting side at flank.

In the backline, Courtnall Skosan returns to start at left wing which results in Ruan Combrinck shifting back to right wing. Howard Mnisi comes into the starting side and links up with Lionel Mapoe in the midfield, as Mapoe shifts back to outside centre.

Emirates Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has named his 23-man side to face the Vodacom Bulls in Saturday’s local Vodacom Super Rugby derby match.

In the forwards, Ackermann has made just 2 changes with Jacques van Rooyen starting at loosehead prop and Andries Ferreira earning a starting berth at lock.

Ackermann has also opted for consistency in the Emirates Lions backline, making just 1 change to his starting outfit. Anthony Volmink will earns his 1st Vodacom Super Rugby start of the year having fully recovered from his long-term injury.

Kick-Off is at 17:05 SA Time at Emirates Airline Park.

Tickets are still available via Lionsrugby.computicket.com from as little as R 40.00.

The Emirates Lions were dealt a setback when it was revealed that lock Martin Muller has been ruled out of Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash with the Vodacom Bulls at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.

Muller sustained a calf tear during his team’s win over the Reds in Brisbane and will be out of the side for Saturday’s clash.

The news has been tempered with MB Lusaseni’s return to action, while Andries Ferreira is also available.

Also ruled out of the clash is winger Courtnall Skosan, with an ankle injury whilst flyhalf / fullback Jaco van der Walt has a fractured cheekbone.

The Golden Lions Rugby Union announced that they signed more players at the Union as well as the re-signing of 2 Vodacom Super Rugby players.

The GLRU has secured the services of lock Andries Ferreira who has signed a 2-year contract. Ferreira recently returned from a stint in Italy at Pro12 side Zebre but also has previous Vodacom Super Rugby and ABSA Currie Cup experience with the Cheetahs.

Ferreira will join the GLRU with immediate effect and will look to bolster the lock stock at the Union and provide added physicality in the tight 5.

The league competition which features teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, the Pro12, has had something of a makeover between last season and the upcoming one. The previous version of the Pro12 had been sponsored by RabboDirect for the last few years, but their deal came to an end and the competition needed a new sponsor. Up stepped Guinness to fill the vacuum to become the title sponsor. There have also been some changes on the broadcasting front with subscription television Sky Sports joining the likes of regular broadcasters BBC Wales, BBC ALBA, S4C and TG4 this season in a shared deal to show the games.

To add to the makeover there has been a fair amount of movement of players both away from and to the Pro12 with various South African players joining up with Pro12 clubs in the closed season – Former Free State Cheetahs and Blue Bulls prop Rossouw de Klerk has moved to Glasgow Warriors, ex Sharks player Anton Bresler has signed up with Edinburgh where he will join a host of South Africans to play under Alan Solomons and will team up with former team mate Allan Dell who signed back in February but has yet to feature for the team from the capital due to injury. Fullback Hennie Daniller and lock Andries Ferreira will make their appearance for Italian club Zebre for the first time in the new season.

Looking at the tall timber, in what has been a troublesome position for the Cheetahs in seasons past. With stalwarts like Barend Pieterse, Rory Duncan, Corniel van Zyl, Flip van der Merwe, David de Villiers , Nico Breedt, and Wilhelm Steenkamp all leaving a void, so a new generation of locks has to be nurtured. With the more recent departures of George Earle, and Izak van der Westhuizens’s departure for colder pastures, a perception could exist, that the Cheetah class of 2013 could struggle in the second row. Well, maybe not!

Hallo all rugby addicts! It’s good to see the blogging intensifying, as prep for the 2012 Super 15 has started in earnest at all the franchises. Rassie’s antics has stolen my thunder momentarily, but I’M BACK!

Anyway, back to my series of articles on contenders for the Cheetahs 2012 Super squad. Tall Timber is next. An area where the Cheetahs have not had dominance since David de Villiers’ departure. We have had some good locks, guys like Braam Els, Flippie, Rory Duncan, and Barend Pieterse, but we need some staunch players to really get the powerful Cheetahs scrum to become destroyers!